Peter Lundy and the Medicine Hat Stallion (1977) (TV)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Michael O'Herlihy

Writers:

Marguerite Henry (novel)
Jack Turley (writer)

Release Date:

6 November 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

A teenage boy gets a job as a Pony Express rider in the Nebraska Territory not long before the Civil War breaks out. |

Plot Keywords:

Pony Express | Horse | 1860s | 19th Century | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Leif Garrett	...	Peter Lundy
Milo O'Shea	...	Brisly
Bibi Besch	...	Emily Lundy
John Quade	...	Adam
Ann Doran	...	Grandma Lundy
Brad Rearden	...	Jim Baxter
Mitch Ryan	...	Jethro Lundy
John Anderson	...	Alexander Majors
Charles Tyner	...	Lefty Slade
Ned Romero	...	Red Cloud
Jimmy Lydon	...	Muggeridge
Phil Mead	...	Hugo Rummelholf
Bill Hicks	...	Bolivar Roberts
Bob Tzudiker	...	Pee Wee (as Robert Tzudiker)

Also Known As:

Pony Express
Rough Rider (video title)
The Medicine Hat Stallion (video title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Ed Friendly Productions

Ludicrously Pretty Twink Tames A Horse

On the cusp of his teen idol years, Leif Garrett starred in this made for television movie Peter Lundy And The Medicine Hat Stallion. If the version I saw was what made television it was a badly edited film because whole parts of the story were left out and you had to guess what was missing. Still the film was nice family entertainment capturing those years of pioneer settlement of the west just before the Civil War.

I just did a review of the British film of the Henry Fielding novel Joseph Andrews when I noticed another reviewer wrote that Peter Firth was 'ludicrously pretty' in that film. If he thought that he should have seen Leif Garrett in Peter Lundy And The Medicine Hat Stallion. Both films came out the same year.

The film was quite a message to the gay youth of America. Leif Garrett during his time as teen idol had an androgynous appeal that was only exceeded in his time by Michael Jackson. As the film progresses, Garrett as Peter Lundy becomes positively more and more effeminate. As it is there's not a trace of any interest in the opposite sex. But that's what made it a 'family' film.

But this effeminate kid tames and trains a wild Indian pony hence the title, rides for the new Pony Express and shoots it out with a road agent. All with the most beautiful hair done up in both pony tail and adorable braided pigtails by the end of the film. With a face that looks like it will never see a razor. Garrett's just this side of an albino.

Of course after his teen idol years you can see a more realistic Leif Garrett in a film like The Outsiders where he plays the snobbish leader of the 'Socs' who meets an early end. The man's battled all kinds of substance abuse problems over the years and he still occasionally performs. Now when you see him in his forties, his head is shaved completely bald, maybe in rebellion against his teen image.

Still in Peter Lundy And The Medicine Hat Stallion it's the androgynous Leif Garrett we're viewing. He gets good support from Mitchell Ryan and Bibi Besch as his parents and Ann Doran as his grandmother with whom he lives on his father's trading post in the Nebraska territory. I can't believe the producer and director of this film did not know what they were doing in making Garrett up as he was.

Every twink and twink lover in America has a special place in his heart for this film.